Near-final results confirm populist victory in Serbia while the opposition claims fraud
ABC News
An early official vote count of Serbia’s weekend election has confirmed the triumph of the ruling populist party in a parliamentary vote
BELGRADE, Serbia -- An early official vote count of Serbia's weekend election on Monday confirmed victory for the ruling populist party in a parliamentary vote in the Balkan country, but political tensions rose over reported irregularities in the capital, Belgrade.
An opposition group said it was robbed of victory in the local election in Belgrade, would not recognize the results and would demand a rerun of the ballot.
Sunday's parliamentary and local election in the Balkan country pitted populist President Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party against the Serbia Against Violence opposition alliance.
Vucic's SNS party won some 47% of the ballots in the parliamentary vote, followed by Serbia Against Violence with 23%, according to a near-complete preliminary tally by the state election commission.
Several other smaller parties also competed in the election, which was held only 18 months after the previous presidential and parliamentary vote.
